Mehri language

{{Short description|Modern South Arabian language}} {{Infobox language | name = Mehri | map = Modern South Arabian Languages (cropped).svg | pronunciation =  | states = Yemen, Oman | ethnicity = Mehri | speakers = {{circa|190,000}} in Yemen, {{circa|250,300}} total | date = 2024 | ref = e28 | familycolor = Afro-Asiatic | fam2 = Semitic | fam3 = West Semitic | fam4 = South Semitic | fam5 = Southeast Semitic | script = Modified version of the Arabic script | iso3 = gdq | glotto = mehr1241 | glottorefname = Mehri | dia1 = Mahriyōt (Yemeni Mehri)<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Janet C. E. |url=https://www.google.com.sa/books/edition/The_Structure_of_Mehri/BtVTMwEACAAJ?hl=en |title=The Structure of Mehri |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=978-3-447-06736-2 |page=1 |language=en}}</ref>{{Indent|1}}{{*}}Eastern Mehri{{Indent|1}}{{*}}Western Mehri | dia2 = Mehreyyet (Omani Mehri)<ref name=":1"/> | nativename = {{lang|gdq-Arab|مهريّت}}, {{tlit|gdq|Mahrīyyt}} | map2 = 270px|frameless | mapcaption2 = {{center|Mehri is classified as "definitely endangered" by the UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''<ref name=UNESCO>United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), "[https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026/PDF/187026eng.pdf.multi Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]" pp. 186–7, 2010.</ref>}} | region = South Arabia | agency = Mehri Language Centre for Studies and Research | fam1 = Afro-Asiatic }}

'''Mehri''' ({{langx|gdq-Arab|مهريّت|Mahrīyyt|label=endonym}}) is a Modern South Arabian language (MSAL) spoken primarily by the Mehri tribes in the Mahra Governorate of Yemen and the Dhofar Governorate of Oman, as well as by smaller diaspora communities in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. It is the most spoken language of the MSAL group, a subgroup of the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. It is one of six distinct languages within the MSAL group, which also includes Shehri, Harsusi, Hobyot, Bathari, and Soqotri.

Mehri and its sister languages were spoken in the southern Arabian Peninsula before the spread of Arabic along with Islam in the 7th century CE. Today it is also spoken by Mehri residents in Arab states of the Persian Gulf originally from Yemen, as well as nationals with a Yemeni heritage. Given the dominance of Arabic in the region over the past 1400 years and the frequent bilingualism with Arabic among Mehri speakers, Mehri is at some risk of extinction. Up to the 19th century, speakers lived as far north as the central part of Oman.<ref>{{cite book |title=Die Beduinen in Südarabien. Eine ethnologische Studie zur Entwicklung der Kamelhirtenkultur in Arabien | author=Walter Dostal | publisher=Ferdinand Berger and Söhne OHG | location=Vienna |language = de| year=1967 |page=133}} fig. 19</ref> It is primarily a spoken language, with little existing vernacular literature and almost no literacy in written Mehri among native speakers.

Mahris consider 2 October to be the Mehri Language Day.<ref>https://almahriah.net/opinions/980</ref> == Dialects == Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani noted that "the Mahri speak a barbarous tongue like foreigners". Elsewhere, Hamdani showed extensive knowledge of Arabian dialects, each of which was rated in its distance from classical Arabic.<ref>Abu Muhammad al-Hasan Hamdani, Sifat Jazirat al-'Arab (probably ed. 1884), 134 tr. {{cite book|title=Ancient West-Arabian | author=Chaim Rabin | author-link=Chaim Menachem Rabin | publisher=Taylor's Foreign Press | location=London | year=1951 |page=43}}</ref>

Today, Mehri exists in two main dialects, Yemeni Mehri (also known as Southern Mehri) and Omani Mehri (also known as Dhofari Mehri and Nagd Mehri). Omani Mehri is spoken by a smaller population and shows no significant variation within itself, but Yemeni Mehri is further divided into western and eastern dialects.<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Aaron D. Rubin|last1=Rubin|first1=Aaron|title=The Mehri Language of Oman|date=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004182639|pages=1–2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duzh7t5wL7sC|access-date=24 March 2015}}</ref>

== Phonology == Unlike other ESSLs, Mehri 'emphatic' consonants are not simply ejectives. They may also be pharyngealized, as in Arabic, so it is possible for Mehri to attest to a transition from proto-Semitic ejective consonants to the pharyngealized emphatics that are found in many Semitic languages.<ref>Watson & Bellem, "Glottalisation and neutralisation", in Hassan & Heselwood, eds, ''Instrumental Studies in Arabic Phonetics'', 2011.</ref>

The consonant inventory is as follows: {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" |Labial ! colspan="4" |Coronal ! rowspan="2" |Velar ! rowspan="2" |Uvular ! rowspan="2" |Pharyngeal ! rowspan="2" |Glottal |- !laminal !lateral !sibilant !palatal |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |{{IPA link|m}}||{{IPA link|n}}|| || || || | || || |- ! rowspan="3" |Occlusive !voiced |{{IPA link|b}}~{{IPA link|pʼ}}||{{IPA link|d}}|| || ||({{IPA link|dʒ}}~{{IPA link|tʃʼ}})||{{IPA link|ɡ}} | || || |- !voiceless | ||{{IPA link|t}}|| || || ||{{IPA link|k}} | || ||{{IPA link|ʔ}} |- !emphatic | ||{{IPA link|tˁ}}~{{IPA link|tʼ}}|| || || ||{{IPA link|kʼ}} | || || |- ! rowspan="3" |Continuant !voiced | ||{{IPA link|ð}}|| ||{{IPA link|z}}|| || colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɣ}}~{{IPA link|ʁ}}||{{IPA link|ʕ}}|| |- !voiceless |{{IPA link|f}}||{{IPA link|θ}}||{{IPA link|ɬ̠}}||{{IPA link|s}}||{{IPA link|ʃ}}|| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|x}}~{{IPA link|χ}}||{{IPA link|ħ}}||{{IPA link|h}} |- !emphatic | || {{IPA link|θ̬ˁ}}~{{IPA link|θʼ}}||{{IPA link|ɬ̬ˁ}}~{{IPA link|ɬ̠ʼ}}||{{IPA link|s̬ˁ}}~{{IPA link|sʼ}}||{{IPA link|ʃ̬ˁ}}~{{IPA link|ʃʼ}}|| | || || |- ! colspan="2" |Rhotic | ||{{IPA link|r}}~{{IPA link|ɾ}}|| || || || | || || |- ! colspan="2" |Semivowel |{{IPA link|w}}|| || {{IPA link|l}} | || ||{{IPA link|j}} | || || |}

* /ɡ/ can be realized as an affricate [dʒ] or palatal plosive [ɟ] in the Yemeni dialect. *Mahriyōt dialect in Hawf and younger generations of al-Rubūʕah have <ḏ̣> as [ʫ̪ˁ], women speakers of the dialects tend to use an affricate which is sometimes pronounced as voiceless [t͡ʪ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/8283145|title=Lateral fricatives and lateral emphatics in southern Saudi Arabia and Mehri|author=Janet Watson|work=academia.edu|date=January 2011 }}</ref>

The vowel inventory is as follows: {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back |- !Close |{{IPA link|iː}} | |{{IPA link|uː}} |- ! rowspan="2" |Mid |{{IPA link|eː}} | rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ə}} |{{IPA link|oː}} |- |{{IPA link|ɛ|ɛ ɛː}} | |- !Open | |{{IPA link|a|a aː}} | |} Voiced obstruents, or at least voiced stops, devoice in pausa. In this position, both the voiced and emphatic stops are ejective, losing the three-way contrast ({{IPA|/kʼ/}} is ejective in all positions). Elsewhere, the emphatic and (optionally) the voiced stops are pharyngealized. Emphatic (but not voiced) fricatives have a similar pattern, and in non-pre-pausal position they are partially voiced.

The difference in place of the laterals is not clear. It may be that the approximant is denti-alveolar, like the alveolar occlusives, and the lateral fricatives apical, or it may be that the latter are palato-alveolar or alveolo-palatal. The fricatives are typically transcribed ''ś'', etc.

{{IPA|/dʒ/}} is only in Arabic loans. It is not clear if the rhotic is a trill or a tap.

== Morphology == The following are the personal pronouns of Mehri:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! colspan="2" | ! Singular ! Dual ! Plural |- ! colspan="2" | 1st person | {{lang|gdq|hōh}} | {{lang|gdq|kīh}} | {{lang|gdq|nḥah}} |- ! rowspan="2" | 2nd person ! {{gcl|MASC}} | {{lang|gdq|hēt}} | rowspan="2" | {{lang|gdq|tīh}} | {{lang|gdq|tām}} |- ! {{gcl|FEM}} | {{lang|gdq|hīt}} | {{lang|gdq|tān}} |- ! rowspan="2" | 3rd person ! {{gcl|MASC}} | {{lang|gdq|hēh}} | rowspan="2" | {{lang|gdq|hīh}} | {{lang|gdq|hām}} |- ! {{gcl|FEM}} | {{lang|gdq|sēh}} | {{lang|gdq|sān}} |}

The following are the possessive suffix versions of those pronouns:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! colspan="2" | ! Singular ! Dual ! Plural |- ! colspan="2" | 1st person | {{lang|gdq|-ī}} | rowspan="3" | {{lang|gdq|-kī}} | {{lang|gdq|-(a)n}} |- ! rowspan="2" | 2nd person ! {{gcl|MASC}} | {{lang|gdq|-(a)k}} | {{lang|gdq|-kam}} |- ! {{gcl|FEM}} | {{lang|gdq|-(a)š}} | {{lang|gdq|-kan}} |- ! rowspan="2" | 3rd person ! {{gcl|MASC}} | {{lang|gdq|-(a)h}} | rowspan="2" | {{lang|gdq|-hī}} | {{lang|gdq|-ham}} |- ! {{gcl|FEM}} | {{lang|gdq|-(a)s}} | {{lang|gdq|-san}} |}

The independent pronouns can also be placed after the genitive exponent (''ð-'') to convert them into possessive pronouns ("mine" etc).<ref>Rubin 2010, 33.</ref>

== Writing system == {{see also|Soqotri language#Writing system}}

Mehri, like other Modern South Arabian languages, possesses a rich oral tradition, but not a written one.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=SIMEONE-SENELLE|first=Marie-Claude|date=November 2013|title=Mehri and Hobyot Spoken in Oman and Yemen|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00907743|journal=LLACAN - Langage, Langues et Cultures d'Afrique Noire|pages=1|via=HALSHS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duzh7t5wL7sC&pg=PA12|title=The Mehri Language of Oman|last=Rubin|first=Aaron|date=2010-05-17|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004182639|pages=12|language=en}}</ref> There exist two main approaches to writing the language: using the standard Arabic alphabet or using a modified Arabic alphabet that contains additional letters to represent sounds unique to Mehri.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://eprints.usm.my/9558/1/THE_MORPHOLOGY_OF_MEHRI_QISHN_DIALECT_IN_YEMEN.pdf|title=The Morphology of Mehri Qishn dialect in Yemen|last=OBEID ABDULLA ALFADLY|first=HASSAN}}</ref>

The most common approach is using the unmodified Arabic alphabet. However, standard Arabic’s deficiencies with respect to ESS result in this approach representing multiple phonemes with the same letters. (Note that, in both Arabic and modified Arabic systems, the vowels are not explicitly differentiated, but are differentiated by the readers through context.)<ref name=":0" />

The modified Arabic alphabet has a few systems, none of which are standardized.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Almakrami|first=Mohsen Hebah|date=2015-11-22|title=Number, Gender and Tense in Aljudhi Dialect of Mehri Language in Saudi Arabia|journal=Theory and Practice in Language Studies|language=en|volume=5|issue=11|pages=2230–2241|doi=10.17507/tpls.0511.06|issn=1799-2591|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Almahrah.net">{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/MehriArabic|title=Mehri Arabic Alphabet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/download/1870/shahri_2007_mathesis_salim_suhail_al-shahri|title=The Shahri language and its relationship with Classical Arabic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219150533/https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/download/1870/shahri_2007_mathesis_salim_suhail_al-shahri|archive-date=2018-02-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> The most commonly used modified Arabic additional letters as documented in use (e.g., in text messages, email, etc.) by the Modern South Arabian Languages Centre at the University of Leeds;<ref name="Leeds letters" /> a proposed set of additional letters for the Arabic alphabet to adapt it to be able to be a good systemic for writing ESS languages (including Mehri) by that same centre; and a separate set of additional letters proposed by Almahrah.net for the same purpose are given (along with IPA phonetic transcription and romanizations) in the columns of the table below. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" !Romanization !IPA ! Workaround letters<ref name="Leeds letters"/><ref name="Leeds citation"/> !''Leeds'' proposed letters<ref name="Leeds letters">Modern South Arabian Languages Centre, “[http://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/download/downloads/id/166/orthographiccharacters.pdf Orthographic Characters]” (University of Leeds, 2019‑05‑15).</ref><ref name="Leeds citation">James Dickins, “[https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/download/downloads/id/339/bibliography_msal_15052019.pdf <nowiki>Bibliography of the Modern South Arabian Languages</nowiki>]” (University of Leeds Modern South Arabian Languages Centre, 2019‑05‑15).</ref> ! ''Almahrah.net'' proposed letters<ref name="Almahrah.net"/> |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|ś}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|ɬ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|ث}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|پ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|ڛ}} |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|ṣ̌}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|ʃˤ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|ض}} | style="font-size:200%" colspan="2" | {{Script/Arabic|ڞ}} |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|ṯ̣ / ḏ̣}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|θ̬ˤ}}~{{IPA link|θʼ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|ظ}} | style="font-size:200%" colspan="2" | {{Script/Arabic|ڟ}} |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|ź}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|ɬ̬ˤ}}~{{IPA link|ɬ̠ʼ}}~{{IPA link|ʒ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|ذ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|چ}} / {{Script/Arabic|ڌ}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|چ}} |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|g}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|ɡ}} | style="font-size:200%" colspan="3" | {{Script/Arabic|ج}} |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|ḳ}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|kʼ}} | style="font-size:200%" colspan="3" | {{Script/Arabic|ق}} |- | style="font-size:125%" | {{Transliteration|gdq|ē / ɛ̄}} | style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link|ɛ(ː)}} | style="font-size:200%" colspan="2" | {{Script/Arabic|ي}} | style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|ێ}} |}

== See also == * Soqotri language * Shehri language

== Notes == {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == * Rubin, Aaron. 2010. ''The Mehri Language of Oman''. Leiden: Brill. * Rubin, Aaron, 2018. ''Omani Mehri: A New Grammar with Texts''. Leiden: Brill. * {{Cite journal |last=Almakrami |first=Mohsen |date=November 2015 |title=Number, Gender and Tense in Aljudhi Dialect of Mehri Language in Saudi Arabia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0511.06 |journal=Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia |volume=5 |issue=11 |via=DOI}}

== External links == {{incubator|gdq}} * [https://mcsr.mhru.edu.ye/en/dictionary/ Mehri language dictionary] - Mahra University * {{in lang|ar}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20170427004019/http://www.hdrmut.net/vb/showthread.php?t=159578 Examples of Mehri poetry] from Hadramaut forum * ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0307 Mehri language documentation materials] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTdj_h0NcyU The Mehri language in south Yemen], Al Jazeera Channel (YouTube video, in Arabic and Mehri)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehri Language}} Category:Endangered Afroasiatic languages Category:Languages of Oman Category:Languages of Yemen Category:Languages of Kuwait Category:Languages of Qatar Category:Modern South Arabian languages Category:Languages of Saudi Arabia Category:Languages of the United Arab Emirates